SS one of my favorite positions, but one of the worst positions in fantasy baseball. Apparently according to a lot of prospects list, there are a lot of SS that will soon be up that will take the league by storm. But that will be in the near to distant future. This year we have a couple of studs, a couple of has beens, and then some other guys. Not the sexiest position in terms of offense, but hey, they are still one of my favorite positions!

1. Troy Tulowitzki (Col-SS)– Tulo has had three straight awesome years from the SS position, and that was all before the age of 27. He is still young and in his prime, so is he absolutely worth a top 5 pick, and if you take him at three I wouldn’t flinch for a second. The only thing against Tulo is his inability to play a full season (only played more than 150 games once, 2009). If he reaches that 150 game mark he will rake!

2012 projection: .308 avg, 98 r, 32 hr, 103 rbi, 14 sb

2. Hanley Ramirez (Mia-SS)-Han Ram was derailed by injuries and mental issues last year. Before last year he was in the conversation as the #1 overall pick. After a down year, and a move to 3B he could be in for a huge bounce back year. From some of the projections I’ve seen for his season I would say most are being a little safe with what to expect. Well I expect the Hanley Ramirez that crushes the ball and gets on base a lot. As a result he will be right on the heels of Tulo by season’s end.

2012 projection: .311 avg, 101 r, 23 hr, 94 rbi, 34 sb

3. Jose Reyes (Mia-SS)-Reyes finally returned to his old self after two injury shortened seasons. He had a career high in BA last year. However I don’t think the BA will be that high again this year. He is making a transition to a new team, which is going to be much more potent than his former, but they will also have a lot of guys who will be streaky. Expect a high avg, r, sb.

2012 projection: .297 avg, 112 r, 8 hr, 56 rbi, 43 sb

4. Elvis Andrus (Tex SS)-Elvis is only 23 years old, has already had 3 seasons of 30+ sb, he has improved his runs every season, and his doubles hit. The guy is continuing to get better at the plate and in his 4th season I’m saying he is going to be a little more consistent at the plate this year. Expect the continuing trend of improvement from the young Elvis!

2012 projection: .288 avg, 106 r, 5 hr, 66 rbi, 44 sb

5. Starlin Castro (ChC SS)-Starlin proved a lot of doubters wrong last year with a great sophomore season (including myself). He improved in all 5 categories last season. So I think we can expect another improvement in all of the categories this season too.

2012 projection: .308 avg, 96 r, 13 hr, 68 rbi, 28 sb

6. Alexei Ramirez (ChW SS)-Alexei was once a budding star that had a chance at a 30 hr, 20 sb season, but that seems ages ago (ok so it was probably only 2010 when we thought it could happen). Alexei has his worst season statistically last season, but when you take a closer look he may have been fairly unlucky (288 BABIP). He had a career high in doubles (which means he was hitting the ball hard, just not hard enough to make HRs last year) and tied a career high in OBP. So if he just improves slightly from a year ago in his k% and gets a little more luck from the ball. He should put up a great year. “Why can’t I quit you Alexei Ramirez!?!?”

2012 projection: .279 avg, 84 r, 22 hr, 76 rbi, 10 sb

7. Jimmy Rollins (Phi SS)-Jimmy Rollins had a good season at the age of 32, I don’t think he can improve again though. I see a line more like the one he produced in 2010 then the one he gave in 2011. I say draft at your own risk.

2012 projection: .258 avg, 78 r, 15 hr, 61 rbi, 24 sb

8. Asdrubal Cabrera (Cle SS)– Asdrubal is only 27 so last year may become the norm rather than the anomaly. I think he will come back down to earth a little, but also wouldn’t be surprised if he blows my expectations through the roof. I look at him with caution where others probably see a 27 year old off of a career year and drool.

2012 projection: .278 avg, 74 r, 15 hr, 72 rbi, 11 sb

9. JJ Hardy (Bal SS)– Hardy has the potential to be a 35+ HR guy from a position that doesn’t typically hit HR. However the only way he manages that is by staying in the lineup consistently, for example this is the games played each seson for his career (124, 35, 151, 146, 115, 101, 129). He needs to get back to the 145-150 mark to be real steal in the draft, but he won’t contribute anything in the speed category. So if that is a category you are looking to lose, than Hardy is your man.

2012 projection: .272 avg, 78 r, 31 hr, 82 rbi, 1 sb

10. Dee Gordon (LAD SS)- Gordon is only 23 (will be 24 after the first month of the season) and had 24 sb in just 56 games last season. If you extrapolate those numbers for the full season he would have somewhere around 61 sb. That is AWESOME. Oh did I mention he hit over .300 in those 56 games. He will be a staple atop the Dodgers lineup for a long time if he continues to do that. Think of Castro last year with more speed but less pop.

2012 projection: .300 avg, 84 r, 2 hr, 41 rbi, 63 sb

Sleeper: Alcides Escobar (KC-SS)– Once upon a time Escobar was a top 20 prospect two years in a row, then he played two and half years in the pros and has been nothing but underwhelming. He will only be 25, will play in a pretty good KC lineup. If he can somehow get back to getting on base (around .345 obp is all he needs to do) he will probably be a top of the lineup, which will mean lots of runs. He is still a great SB guy.

2012 projection: .278 avg, 78 r, 3 hr, 49 rbi, 35 sb

Bust: Jimmy Rollins (Phi-SS)- I know, I know, I have him ranked 6 overall but have him as a bust, and that is because Philly’s offense isn’t what it used to be, Rollins legs aren’t what they used to be, and I just get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach when it comes to what his season will look like this year. I will be staying away from him at pretty much all costs.

Have any projections for SS this season? Don’t be afraid to post them in the comment section. As always don’t forget to follow the blog or “like” us on Facebook. Hope you enjoyed the rankings, and long live the SS! 3B will be up and running tomorrow, see you then.

SS were also a little difficult to rank. There is really only 2 studs, 3 or 4 safe bets, and the rest could be hit or miss. But after looking over some stats from the last couple of years this is my list and I’m sticking to it!

1) Hanley Ramirez (Fla-SS)-Han-Ram is a stud at the plate, and lucky for us that is all that matters in the fantasy world, 2 years ago he was battling for a batting title, he has had 20/30 seasons 3 of the last 4. So needless to say he does everything. His steals have dropped from his first two full seasons, but still got a solid 32 last year. He will have another good year because that is what he does.

2011 prediction: .311 avg, 106 r, 26 hr, 84 rbi, 31 sb

2) Troy Tulowitzki (Col-SS)-Tulo has fought early season struggles, and injuries every single year in the league. But he also has had monster 2nd halfs the last three seasons. So be prepared to suffer through a month or two with Tulo, but then you get rewarded with the best bat in the league for about 3 weeks (last September 30,15,40). So Tulo could take the next step if he can bring his bat to the first two months of the season, but don’t expect it to happen.

2011 prediction: .298 avg, 97 r, 31 hr, 102 rbi, 12 sb

3) Jose Reyes (NYM-SS)-Jose Reyes was a top 5 pick for three years in a row then he got injured in 2009, and last year he battled thyroid problems the whole season. So let’s just assume this offseason he has learn to deal with the thyroid and will be able to gain some of his allure that he once had. If Jose plays 150+ he will be worth the price you pay for him.

2011 prediction: .284 avg, 102 r, 12 hr, 57 rbi, 41 sb

4) Derek Jeter (NYY-SS)-I thought about dropping Derek on the list but I wasn’t ready to put Alexei, Elvis, and Stephen as the 4th best shortstop. Derek is getting old (turns 37 this season) so his numbers will probably decline some, which they did last year. Jeter is a decent producer in every category which is why he is still at number 4. But if he doesn’t improve his avg from last years numbers then he won’t be worth the 4th SS.

2011 prediction: .286 avg, 109 r, 12 hr, 68 rbi, 17 sb

5) Alexei Ramirez (ChW-SS)-Alexei is only in his 4th full season, and is turning 29 this year. So Both of those things should tell you that he shouldn’t have any decline from his season last year. Alexei had a rough first two months last year, but came on strong the last three months. He will bring you value in all five categories, but he won’t be a monster in any of them. If he can stay at the top of the batting order then I expect big things from him this year.

2011 prediction: .289 avg, 86 r, 20 hr, 77 rbi, 10 sb

6) Elvis Andrus (Tex-SS)-Elvis had a good year last year in his second full season, but he didn’t shine. Most have him ahead of Ramirez, but he did worse in every category but sb. So I put him one spot lower than Ramirez. He is entering his third full season, and is only 22 so good things could happen for him (could key word there). If he gets his avg up 10-15 points he will be higher than Ramirez, but he never showed improve signs at the end of last season for me to believe that it will happen. He is a high sb guy that you can get in the middle rounds.

2011 prediction: .272 avg, 93 r, 2 hr, 44 rbi, 39 sb

7) Jimmy Rollins (Phi-SS)-Jimmy Rollins was once a fantasy killer, and a MVP candadate. The last two seasons however say something very different. It looks as though his age is starting to show, injuries, drops in his sb, and huge drops in his batting avg. Jimmy no longer is a top five SS, but at 32 there is still a chance he produces much better than he has.

2011 prediction: .265 avg, 94 r, 18 hr, 65 rbi, 27 sb

8) Stephen Drew (Ari-SS)-Drew has been the full time SS for 4 seasons now so when you take a look at his stats year to year you know what you are going to get. He doesn’t shine in any one category, but he did up his sb total last year. So if Drew can improve that number more this year and be more consitent at the plate he will deliver a good fantasy season. I don’t see him breaking out of his mold though.

2011 prediction: .277 avg, 81 r, 16 hr, 64 rbi, 14 sb

9) Rafael Furcal (LAD-SS)-Furcal is getting to the latter part of his SS days (33). He has gone good year/bad year the last 5 years, and if that pattern stays true then this year is going to be a bad year. But stats don’t tell the whole story. Furcal was dinged up last year, and put up some good numbers. So if he can stay on the diamond I think he will put up decent numbers again. Remember players with patterns (especially ones that have had a pattern for more than 3 years) usually stay true to it.

2011 prediction: .274 avg, 87 r, 7 hr, 49 rbi, 24 sb

10) Starlin Castro (ChC-SS)-Castro was a highly touted rookie last year and probably did better than most thought he would do, especially at the plate. Hopefully in year two he can begin to either a) drive the ball a little better than last year (only 3 hr and 41 rbi in 2010). Or get more aggressive on the basepaths (only had 10 sb and 53 r) As long as 2 of those 4 numbers improve and his avg stays the same he will be a great SS at a low price.

2011 predicton: .296 avg, 65 r, 5 hr, 48 rbi, 16 sb

11) Alcides Escobar (KC-SS)-Alcides was the main piece in the Grienke deal this offseason. Last year with the Brewers, Escobar struggled at the plate. He looked really bad… hit .235 for the season. His avg should go up, he is a player who puts the ball in play a lot, and has plus speed. He also hit fairly well in the minors so his avg shouldn’t be as low as it was. This was a guy who I rank higher than anyone else, but I have faith that he will come through for me.

2011 prediction: .279 avg, 69 r, 6 hr, 46 rbi, 27 sb

12) Ian Desmond (Was-SS)-Ian was a great pickup last year considering he had dual position eligibility, but this year he is SS only. With that knowledge and the stats he put up last year I don’t see him getting much higher that 12th. It will be his 3rd full season and his 2nd as a full time starter. So that means there is a chance he could be better than 12. I don’t see the Nats having a great season offensively, so I don’t see his numbers improving that much this year.

2011 prediction: .270 avg, 61 r, 11 hr, 66 rbi, 17 sb

OF will be up tomorrow. Leave any questions, or disagreements with my rankings in the comment section. Also, leave any bold predictions you have for the SS class of 2011.